Inmates stage 'hunger strike' over Ottawa jail conditions

Inmates at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre are refusing to eat meals in what one inmate described as a “hunger strike” aimed at improving conditions in the overcrowded and notoriously troubled jail.

Muhamad Alhasi said several dozen inmates in the maximum-security wing at the provincial jail are refusing to eat over frustrations on issues ranging from the amount of yard time they receive to the quality of the “horrible” food and the amount of time they are allowed out of their cells daily.

Inmates began the protest Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday the unit was locked down, with inmates getting only 20 minutes out of their cells to shower and use the phone. Alhasi said the lockdown coincided with the posting of “observation sheets” outside the cells of inmates participating in the protest.

The ministry of community safety and correctional services said as of Friday morning, 42 of the jail’s 532 inmates were refusing meals.

Ministry spokesman Brent Ross disputed the inmate’s characterization of it being a hunger strike, alleging that inmates have been eating items purchased at the jail canteen, which sells snack food such as chips, pop and chocolate bars.

“Our health care staff is monitoring any inmates who continue to refuse meals to ensure they are in good health and ministry officials are currently working with the inmates to address their concerns,” said Ross, who added the lockdown is due to “security concerns” and not the result of the meal refusal.

Alhasi said the list of inmate complaints is long, and includes sporadic access to doctors and psychologists and the cancellation of rehabilitative programming due to frequent lockdowns as a result of staff shortages. They also complain that yard time that is supposed to happen for 20 minutes each day being reduced to trips outside twice a month and are upset about the jail’s plan to require them to eat in their cells.

“Their new access plan has us eating all our meals in the cell,” said Alhasi. “Inside the cell there is no table. Someone would have to sit on the toilet in order to eat and have their food sit on the floor,” he said. “I don’t know of any human being that prefers to sit on a toilet to eat their meals.”

On Friday, the ministry announced the hiring of 91 new correctional officers that it says will increase staffing levels and enhance program delivery at the province’s 11 jails. Six of the new officers will be posted at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre and begin their orientation at the jail on Monday, said a spokeswoman for Minister Yasir Naqvi.

Alhasi said inmates endured months of three inmates being held in a three-by-1.8-metre (10-by-six-foot) cell with a bunk bed. It was only Thursday that the last of the triple-bunked cells went back to holding two prisoners, Alhasi said.

The conditions were the result of four maximum security ranges being condensed into two, according to Alhasi. He said inmates were told it would be a two-month process, but it has now been 3 ½ months.

Alhasi, 25, is awaiting trial on aggravated assault charges. He was previously convicted of robbery and said he has been in and out of jail since he was 18.

Michelle Lavergne, whose boyfriend is among prisoners refusing meals, said visits by family members are routinely cancelled because of lockdowns.

Lavergne, who tries to visit her boyfriend for 40 minutes a week, said she is lucky if she gets into the jail every second week. Lavergne said sometimes she is warned in advance not to come; other times she is turned away at the gate.

“They’ll tell you ‘we’ve got a shortage of staff or a fight broke out,’” she said. “Sometimes they won’t even give you a reason.”

Lavergne said she believes conditions inside the jail are inhumane.

“They are treating them like animals. My dog gets treated better,” said Lavergne. “I understand these people have done wrong but they are still humans. At the end of the day we all deserve to be treated fairly.”